


mind and body

by ThirteenthMouse6572



Category: DC Animated Universe (Timmverse), DCU, Justice League - All Media Types
Genre: (sort of), Background Poly, Fluff, Jealousy, M/M, Mind Meld, Misunderstandings, can't believe this is the second fic in the j'onn/hal tag, i will build this tag up my damn self, it's practically G-rated, rated T for hal's thoughts really
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-14 08:09:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28667526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThirteenthMouse6572/pseuds/ThirteenthMouse6572
Summary: One thing about his and J’onn’s relationship confused Hal. J’onn had connected his mind to everyone else in the JLA (minus Vic), but not him. It wasn’t like it was a secret, either.He wasn’t sure why J’onn hadn’t connected with him, or hadn’t even brought it up before. Did J’onn just not trust him enough? Did it require some kind of “worthiness” that Hal didn’t have? Did J’onn just… not want to?
Relationships: J'onn J'onzz/Hal Jordan
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7





	mind and body

**Author's Note:**

> couldn't believe there was only one other fic in this tag so i'm taking it upon myself to write more
> 
> hope y'all enjoy, these two are the characters my dumb brain decided to focus on

Hal knew that nobody in the League chose a favourite partner. They were all equal, and everyone spent roughly the same time with everyone else. Although, he was almost 100% sure that everyone had a soft spot for J’onn. The Martian practically radiated calm and security in a way that drew everyone toward him.

Hal, personally, liked him because he would put up with Hal’s insistent flirting and attention-seeking for a lot longer than everyone else would (and sometimes indulge Hal in his flirting, which Hal always enjoyed because J’onn was a _very good_ kisser). Although one thing about his and J’onn’s relationship confused him. 

J’onn had connected his mind to everyone else in the JLA (minus Vic), but not him. It wasn’t like it was a secret, either. Hal had walked into J’onn and Bruce forehead-to-forehead on the couch in the Watchtower lounge room before, looking more peaceful than Hal had seen either of them before, but he didn’t stick around long to see the end of that scene. He knew J’onn had connected with the others because he had either heard about it second- or third-hand or witnessed it himself.

He wasn’t sure why J’onn hadn’t connected with him, or hadn’t even brought it up before. Did J’onn just not trust him enough? Did it require some kind of “worthiness” that Hal didn’t have? Did J’onn just… not want to?

Hal was sitting in his room on the bed, absently tapping at a game he downloaded (which probably wouldn’t last longer than a week) on the tablet Bruce gave him. He didn’t look up when his doors opened, just staring as the numbers went up as he tapped. Whoever was at the door stood there silently for long enough that Hal looked up to see what they wanted.

He was slightly shocked to see J’onn standing there, looking at Hal patiently. “J’onn, uh, hi,” Hal said awkwardly, putting the tablet down. “What’s up?”

“Hello, Hal,” J’onn said. “Do you mind if I come inside?”

“Uh, yeah! Yeah, come in.” Hal watched as J’onn walked in and sat on the edge of Hal’s bed, looking towards Hal as the Lantern fidgeted, wondering what he had done wrong to make J’onn come to him. Usually he all but broke into the Martian’s room, and rarely did J’onn come to him unless Hal asked him to.

“I noticed you have been avoiding me,” J’onn said. “I was wondering what I had done for you to do this.”

Hal frowned. He wasn’t avoiding J’onn, at least… he didn’t think he was. He would admit he hasn’t been in the same room as J’onn for a while, so maybe he had been avoiding J’onn accidentally. “I’m sorry I… didn’t realise I was avoiding you.”

“Even if you didn’t realise, there is often a reason. Is there anything I may have done that you can think of which would make you avoid me, even subconsciously?”

Hal’s first thought was the mind thing, but he shook it away. He wasn’t so pressed over that that he’d _avoid_ J’onn.

“You thought of something,” J’onn said bluntly. 

“Yeah but it… it’s stupid,” Hal replied. J’onn only looked at Hal in return, dousing the room in silence. Hal shifted, hand twitching to grab the tablet again but brain saying that it would be rude to unlock it and continue playing, considering J’onn was right there.

J’onn placed a hand on Hal’s knee. “I’m sure it isn’t, Hal. What was it?”

Hal didn’t want to disappoint J’onn by saying that, or overstep boundaries by saying anything, but J’onn was asking and his voice was calm and… _God,_ Hal couldn’t say no to him. “I… why haven’t you… I don’t know, connected our minds? You’ve done it with everyone else, but not me.” He curled his knees up to his chest, which made J’onn’s hand slide down his shin and onto the bed covers. “Am I just not… good enough?”

“Love, you are always good enough. I shared a headspace with everyone else because I was helping them build mental shields. They are useful for when we fight telepathic enemies, as well as for their privacy around me,” J’onn said. “I haven’t done it with you because you already have shields in place. I didn’t offer to share our minds because I had no reason to.”

Hal sat still as he processed everything. “I have mental shields?” he asked. This was the first time he was hearing about it, and he told J’onn as much.

J’onn tilted his head. “I thought you already knew about them. That’s why I never asked you about sharing.” He thought for a moment. “I presume they are the result of your Green Lantern ring. You may not have created them consciously, but your ring created them for you. Either in response to you asking it, or by you accepting it.”

A spike of sadness went through Hal. If he already had mental shields, then J’onn wouldn’t need to connect their minds. It was a weird thing to be sad about, but Hal certainly didn’t control his emotions.

“However,” J’onn said, catching Hal’s attention, “I could check your shields myself. I would like to figure out if they were created subconsciously or entirely by your ring.”

To say Hal was happy would be an understatement. “Yeah!” he said before immediately feeling embarrassed at his own enthusiasm. “I mean… yeah, that’d be cool.”

J’onn gave a small smile and shifted his position so he was sitting cross-legged in front of Hal, facing the Lantern. “I need you to relax. It may be harder for me to enter because of your shields. Just don’t fight me, okay?” Hal nodded and let J’onn lean in and press their foreheads together.

The Martian was warm, and a pleasant shiver went down Hal’s spine as he closed his eyes. He felt a gentle nudge – for lack of a better word – at his head and fought the instinct to tell it to leave. Instead, he relaxed as much as he could and steadied his breathing.

Soon, the darkness behind his eyes became an actual room, covered with stacks of boxes and quite a lot of green. The walls were a deep brown, with green vine-like accents falling down them. The floors were a lush cream carpet that made Hal want to bend down and bury his hands into it. Instead, Hal looked around the space until he saw J’onn standing near one of the walls, placing a hand onto it. “J’onn?” he called.

The Martian turned to look at Hal, and then the rest of the room. “Your shields are intact, and they are quite strong. However, there are parts which are worn down,” J’onn said. He walked towards Hal and stopped beside him. “You see where there appears to be wear on the walls? It indicates places where your shields have been damaged.”

Hal noticed the places J’onn was talking about. Some of the walls had places which looked like someone had run sandpaper over them and the green was faded slightly. “What does that mean?” he asked J’onn.

“It means that occasionally, I can either feel your emotions if they are particularly strong or if there are a lot of them at once.” Hal felt a flush of shame across his face. “It’s okay, Hal, it’s nothing I haven’t felt before. Even Martians have a particularly difficult time blocking out strong emotions from other people.”

Hal wasn’t sure if that made it better or worse. “What uh… Can anything be done about it?” He didn’t want to annoy J’onn every time he was around just because his emotions were sometimes cranked up to max.

J’onn nodded. “If you allow me, I can fortify your shields. It will be painless, but I have been told the process of shield-building creates a feeling like pins and needles in your head. Just do your best to ignore it, it won’t last long.”

“Okay,” Hal said. “You can… do that.”

Hal sat on the carpet and watched as J’onn went around the room, placing his hands on the worn-down parts on the walls and pausing for several seconds. Hal watched as the patches restored themselves to the same richness as the wall around them. The only difference was that the green vines had turned silver where J’onn repaired them.

J’onn was right about the feeling in his head; it felt like Hal had just dipped his head into TV static. With each patch J’onn repaired, the static got slightly louder. Not so loud that it hurt, but enough that it distracted Hal from burying his hands in the soft carpet. When J’onn repaired the final patch, the static stopped abruptly, leaving Hal’s head in silence.

“Woah,” Hal said. “It’s… quiet.”

J’onn nodded and sat in front of Hal on the carpet. “Your shields are fortified now. Your emotions should be contained to your own mind, unless you actively choose to bring your shields down,” he explained.

Hal nodded in reply. “Thank you.”

He blinked and they were back in his room, foreheads still pressed together. J’onn pulled away first, watching Hal silently as the Lantern moved his knees away from his chest and sat cross-legged. “I am sorry for not suggesting we share a headspace, Hal. I wasn’t aware it was making you so distressed,” J’onn said.

“No, no, it’s fine. It wasn’t like I was going to die because we didn’t,” Hal joked. “But uh… it was nice. Thank you for… doing that.”

J’onn leaned in and kissed Hal’s forehead softly. “Thank you for letting me in,” he said.

Hal nodded silently. He’ll probably never get used to J’onn gentleness, especially since he’s seen the Martian in battle. J’onn stood up from the bed and left the room, leaving Hal in silence.

Well, that was interesting. 

Hal picked up the tablet once more and opened the new app, tapping at it a few times before (as he predicted) getting bored, exiting the game, and deleting it from the tablet. He wondered if sharing a headspace could be used for… other things.

**Author's Note:**

> hope you enjoyed!
> 
> come talk to me on tumblr [@thirteenthmouse](https://thirteenthmouse.tumblr.com/) or [@mousewithapen](https://mousewithapen.tumblr.com/)


End file.
